Chapter Ten

He woke late the next morning, reluctant to leave the warmth around him and pull away from listening to the steady beat of Solan’s heart. He only pulled away grudgingly when he remembered he had a math test to take, and that as good as it felt, snuggling with Solan wouldn’t help him pass the class. Untangling himself from Solan’s arm, he stole a quick kiss and got up, biting his lip to keep from laughing when Solan grunted and rolled into the warm spot where his body had been. He took a moment to empty and hide the beer bottles, snagged a handful of cookies to eat on the way, and left for class, closing the door quietly behind him.

Jax grabbed him at lunch as he came out of class and they ducked behind one of the outlying buildings so Jax could smoke a cigarette. Kyr waved it off when it was offered to him and just leaned against the brick wall, watching his breath puff out in little white clouds in the cold air. He could hear someone yelling in the distance, over towards the track, and a burst of laughter from a group of freshmen wandering by on their way to class or lunch. When the sun slid out from behind a patch of clouds, he turned his face up to its fading warmth, closing his eyes.

“I guess. Are we doing anything for next assembly or are you too busy trying to impress loverboy?”

“Nah, we’ll do something. Give me a bit to think.”

Jax snorted. “If you still even have the balls.”

“Want me to whip them out and fuckin’ show you?” Kyr straightened up and opened his eyes. “Get off my ass. I didn’t crawl up yours when you were fucking what’s-her-face.”

“That was different.”

“Bullshit it was. Why? Because she was a girl and Solo’s not?”

“Because I didn’t fucking drop you,” Jax snarled, tossing the last of the cigarette to the ground and stubbing it out viciously with his toe. “Because I think you’re being completely fucking stupid.”

“Yeah, well, nobody asked you. I’ve gotta go.” Kyr shoved himself away from the wall and headed towards his next class, half-expecting Jax to come after him and not even sure if he would welcome it or not. Instead he got to his next class alone and tried to shove it all out of his mind so he could concentrate on what the teacher was yapping about today.

He glanced at the whiteboard on his door when he got up to his room after classes, studying the juvenile scrawling on it, then grinned and found his whiteboard marker. Ten minutes later he stood back to study his masterpiece, still grinning, then slipped the marker into his pocket and went into his room to watch TV until Solan came back from class.

As he was flipping through the channels, he paused on a news report, his attention caught by the red Breaking News bar running across the bottom of the screen. The news anchor, a pretty dark-haired woman that he’d actually met once or twice, was solemnly reading off the sheets of paper in her hands, with occasional pauses to listen to her earpiece. The Fae had launched an attack on a small coastal town, breaking the uneasy pause in a war that had been ongoing in one form or another since before Kyr had even been born. A man dressed in a general’s uniform appeared on the screen, making threats and promises to bring the enemy down, then the cameras returned to the newsroom, where the pretty anchor asked people to stay calm and continue on about their daily lives.

Kyr reached out to turn the TV off then paused with his fingers still resting against the button as they showed video footage recorded by one of the town’s survivors. The Fae looked like throwbacks to another age in their mix of new protective gear and old talismans, though their weapons were strictly modern and used with skill. They seemed to prefer close combat and fought viciously with anyone who went up against them physically, and Kyr felt a chill run up his spine when one of them let out a bloodcurdling war cry that sounded more like a wolf howling. He turned the TV off in a movement that was more like a spasm, and jumped at a sudden knock on his door.

Taking a deep breath to calm the pounding of his heart, he went to open it and smiled at Solan. “Hey. Ready to go paint?”

“Yeah.” Solan looked him over. “You okay? You look a bit pale.”

“I was watching the news,” Kyr said after a slight hesitation. “There was an attack on some town this morning. By the Fae.”

Solan’s expression changed subtly, becoming almost guarded, though his voice was natural when he said, “I guess it is still a war.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Kyr stepped out and closed his door, watching Solan’s eyes flick to the whiteboard. One dark eyebrow went up then Solan snorted, his expression relaxing as he grinned. “What? You don’t like old One-Eye?”

“A little big.” Solan leaned in to get a closer look and started laughing. “Is that a top hat?”

“He’s a fuckin’ gentleman and don’t you forget it. Let’s go.”

They spent the evening putting the finishing touches on the cartoon murals, adding in little details and finally signing their names somewhere on each one. While Solan was kneeling down to scribble his signature in the corner of the last one, Kyr stood back a bit to look at the whole thing, absently sticking the end of the paintbrush he’d been cleaning in his mouth. Feeling accomplished, he glanced at Solan and saw that the back of his shirt had pulled up, revealing a band of bare skin between the hem and the waistbands of his jeans. Kyr looked at it for a moment, smiling a bit, then deliberately dipped the paintbrush he’d just cleaned into one of the open paint containers and slashed a broad streak of paint across Solan’s back.

Solan jumped and spun around so fast he fell on his butt, reaching around to touch his back and staring at the wet blue paint on his fingers when he brought them back around. Kyr cracked up at his expression, hiding the paintbrush behind him when Solan looked up.

“What? I couldn’t resist,” he said innocently.

“Give me the paintbrush, Kyr.” Solan got to his feet and took a step closer, the corner of his mouth twitching as he tried not to smile. “Hand it over.”

“You want it, fuckin’ come get it.”

Solan lunged at him so suddenly that he jumped, and his feet tangled as he tried to get away. He fell hard and Solan landed heavily on top of him, but he barely had a chance to appreciate it before Solan smeared a handful of paint across his face and down his neck. Kyr grabbed for the paint to retaliate and it quickly degenerated into an all-out battle that left them both panting and covered from head-to-feet in a rainbow of paint by the time Solan called a breathless truce.

“I win,” Kyr said, if only because he was the one who had ended up on top in the struggle.

“Fine, you win.” Solan laughed a bit. “All I can taste is paint.”

Kyr looked him over, grinning, and reached out to rub his thumb against a small bit of bare skin on the bridge of Solan’s nose that had somehow escaped being splattered. His fingers trailed down across the curve of Solan’s cheek to trace the line of his jaw, and Solan’s smile changed a little, his expression becoming something Kyr couldn’t quite interpret. Kyr leaned in a little, feeling a muscle in Solan’s jaw jump under his fingers, then hurriedly scrambled back as Ms. Patel’s voice floated down the hall, calling their names.

“She’s going to kill us,” Solan said, getting just as quickly to his feet and looking at the mess in a panic.

“I think it all got on the drop sheets.” Kyr started gathering them up, dumping them in a pile by the wall. “Go hide in the bathroom.”

“I’m not hiding.” Solan shoved his shoulder. “As long as we didn’t get it all over the floor.” He crouched down to start packing up what they’d left of the paints, dumping the dirty paintbrushes into a bucket of water.

Ms. Patel rounded the corner a moment later and stopped when she saw them, her eyebrows climbing as she took in their appearance. She glanced at the floor, then at the mural, then back to them with amusement evident in her eyes. “You two look like you had fun. Is this it for the younger grades?”

“Yeah, all done.” Solan finished stacking the paint containers and straightened up, scratching self-consciously at the half-dried paint across his cheek. “We, uh...”

“Got a little carried away,” Kyr said. “I started it.”

“Shocking,” Ms. Patel said dryly. “Thanks, boys. You want a couple days off before you start on the ones for the older grades?”

Kyr saw Solan looking at him and realized Solan was waiting for him to make a decision. “Um... Sure. Start again on Thursday?”

Right now, Kyr thought, but what he said was, “Thursday evening then. Maybe I’ll know what I want then.”

Solan gave him a speculative look but only nodded. Ms. Patel left them with another thanks for their help and a promise to see them on Thursday, and they finished tidying up in silence. By the time they went out to the car the paint had mostly dried on their clothes but Kyr still made Solan strip down to his boxers and followed suit. He dumped their paint-splattered clothes in the trunk before jumping into the driver’s seat and turning on the engine, letting the heat blast for a few minutes to warm up his chilled skin.

“Did that hurt?” Solan asked, poking the tattooed wyvern winding its way along his upper right arm.

“Nah. Why, you want one?” Kyr put the car into Drive and pulled out onto the road.

“Maybe.” Solan held his hands in front of one of the vents. “Mostly I’m just curious.”

“I’ll take you for your birthday. You can get Property of Kyr tattooed on your ass.”

They ran for the dorms after Kyr had parked, leaving their clothes in the car to fetch when they weren’t wearing nothing but their shorts. The security guard gave them a funny look but didn’t comment when they came in, though they got a few wolf whistles from other students out in the halls. Kyr noticed that someone had put a little moustache on his whiteboard drawing, to go with the top hat, and went into his room laughing to fetch his towel and head for the showers.

He expected Solan to be there too—kind of hoped for it—but the showers were still empty when he stepped in. Shrugging, he stripped off and got under the water to scrub the rest of the paint off his skin, then wrapped his towel around himself and headed back to his room. Solan’s door was still closed and he debated knocking and asking if they could study for a bit before lights out, but a sudden huge yawn made him decide to just go straight to bed instead.

The next day passed quickly and he almost forgot he’d had a pop quiz in one class until he walked in and the teacher announced that she would be handing it back at the end of the class. He spent the next hour and a half trying not to fidget, completely unable to concentrate on the new work the teacher was going over. Her face showed nothing when she finally handed the quizzes back, a few minutes before the end of class, and he shoved it into his backpack without looking at it. As soon as the bell rang he bolted for the door and went straight up to Solan’s room, waiting impatiently for Solan to come back from class.

“Look at my grade for me,” he said as soon as Solan appeared, shoving his backpack into Solan’s arms. “I can’t fuckin’ do it, you look and tell me how bad I failed.”

“What?”

“The pop quiz in English. I got it back today.” Kyr slid his hand into Solan’s hip pocket to snag the passcard for his bedroom door, then pushed Solan inside. “So you look.”

“Relax before you blow something.” Solan dropped down on his chair, took the quiz out of the backpack, and looked over it. “You passed.”

Kyr took it gingerly out of his hand and looked at the green 65% circled at the top of the sheet. Underneath it said ‘Good job!’ accompanied by a smiley face. For a moment Kyr stared at it, waiting for it to change to a failing grade, then dropped the paper, grabbed Solan, and kissed him full on the mouth. He felt Solan inhale sharply and let him go, backing up a step and forcing a smile.

“Sorry. But I fucking passed.”

Solan started laughing. “Yeah, you did. I told you that you could.”

“I owe you big time. Whatever you want. Let’s go get something to eat.” He pulled Solan out of the chair, ignoring his protests, and dragged him out of the room.

They went to the usual diner, and when Kyr told the waitress that they were celebrating, she laughed and brought them out a huge dish of freshly-baked apple pie topped with whipped cream, on the house. Kyr grinned at Solan’s bemused expression and told him to dig in, following his own instructions. By the time they left, they were both so full they could hardly walk, and Kyr was carrying a doggy bag with enough leftovers for lunch the next day.

His good mood lasted through their study session before bed, and all the way through the next morning, until his math teacher asked him to stay behind after class. Trying to think of anything he’d done wrong recently, Kyr waited until the last student had left, then reluctantly made his way up to the teacher’s desk, fidgeting from one foot to the other until the teacher glanced up at him.

“Mr. Damascus.” The teacher went through his papers until he found the one he was looking for, passing it across to Kyr. Kyr looked at the red numbers at the top and swallowed hard, feeling his good mood drain away. He might have passed his English pop quiz, but he’d failed the math test, and badly.

“I need to speak with you about this because I don’t think you’re understanding the material,” the teacher continued after a moment’s heavy silence. “I’ve heard you’re being tutored by another student but it obviously isn’t doing you any good.”

“I appreciate the effort you’re making, however, which is much more than you have in previous years,” the teacher said, though Kyr noticed he didn’t disagree with the ‘stupid’ statement. “I’m offering you a make-up test. If you pass that one, then that will be your grade. If not, I don’t believe you will pass this class.”

“Okay,” Kyr said, feeling numb; fully aware that he needed the class to graduate. “When can I take the make-up?”

“Tomorrow. Come here after your last class. You can go now.”

“Thanks,” Kyr managed and left the classroom. Outside he stood in the hallway for a minute, then went straight up to his room, changed into his running clothes, and went outside to run until his muscles trembled with exhaustion.

The sky was darkening towards sunset when Solan came to find him, standing patiently by the edge of the track until Kyr slowed to a walk and headed over to him. “You okay?” he asked as soon as Kyr was in earshot. “You’ve been out here for a while.”

“I failed my math test. He’s going to give me a make-up, but fuck, I’ll fail that one too.” Kyr stretched out his legs, still panting a little. “Then he’ll kick me out of class and I’ll have to drop out. Off to the fuckin’ army just in time to go into battle against the Fae.”

“Did he say that? All of that?”

“He said he didn’t think I’d pass.” Kyr looked towards the buildings, their shadows long in front of them in the light of the setting sun, and laughed bitterly. “I’m fucked. I can’t do it.”

“I’ll help you study—”

“Nope. You’ve been helping me. So now I’ve got two choices. I can take the test and bomb and drop out and go get killed in some shitty little town no one’s ever heard of.” He took a deep breath. “Or I can cheat.”

“You’re not cheating.” Solan caught his arm as he started back towards the dorms, but Kyr shook him off. “Kyr!”

“I’ve cheated before. Remember, that’s how I fuckin’ stayed in school. I’ll do better after, I fuckin’ swear it, but I can’t fail this time and I don’t have enough time to cram it all into my head.” Kyr walked backwards away from him, trying to get him to understand. “I won’t make it otherwise.”

“You cheat and I’m not helping you anymore,” Solan snapped.

“Fuck you.” Kyr turned on his heel and jogged for the dorms, forcing his tired muscles into the faster pace. He heard Solan call his name but ignored it, letting the door into the dorms slam shut behind him.

He waited until nearly eleven to slip out of his room into the dim hallways, going straight to the window to let himself out. He jogged around to the math building and was scouting the windows, trying to see which ones were unlocked, when someone suddenly stepped out of the nearby shadows and grabbed his arm. He swung wildly with his right fist and followed it up with his left, landing two good punches before he was shoved up against the wall.

“Kyr, it’s me,” Solan said in his ear. “Ow, you punch hard.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t fuckin’ sneak up on me in the dark then,” Kyr hissed. “What are you doing here?”

“Shut your face.” Kyr pushed him away and tested another window, smiling when it opened under his hand. He climbed through carefully, then turned to look at Solan, little more than a dark silhouette against the sky. “Come or go. I don’t care.”

He moved away from the window and couldn’t help smiling a little when he heard Solan follow him. Together they walked through the silent building until they got to the group of offices the math teachers all shared. The doors were locked but Kyr pulled a paperclip out of his pocket and after a couple minutes of fiddling, eased open the door into the office belonging to his math teacher.

“If we get caught, we’re toast,” Solan murmured behind him.

“Then stay quiet and we won’t get caught.” Kyr pulled the blinds and turned on the desk lamp to its lowest setting, checking to make sure it wasn’t obvious even through the blinds. When he was satisfied that no one would notice it unless they were right outside, he started going through the desk and filing cabinets.

He found the folder containing that semester’s math tests and answer sheets, but before he could go through it, Solan reached out and pulled it out of his hand. Anger flashed through Kyr but he tried to shove it down, just holding his hand out for the folder.

“Give it.”

“No. You don’t need it.” Solan dropped the folder back into the filing cabinet and slammed it shut with a bang that made Kyr flinch.

“You’re going to get us caught, asshole.” He curled his hands into fists, unable to stop himself.

“Good.” Solan crossed his arms over his chest. “You can shut up and come with me, without the damn cheat sheet, or I can get security down here.”

“That’ll really get me kicked out, you fucking dick.” Kyr tried to push him out of the way but Solan just rocked his weight back onto his heels and stood his ground. Eyes narrowed, Kyr looked up at him for a moment, then hauled back and punched him as hard as he could, hard enough to split his lip and rock his head to the side.

He was gearing up for another punch when Solan grabbed him by the wrists and slammed him up against the wall by the filing cabinet, pinning his arms over his head. He flinched at the back of his skull rebounding none-too-gently off the wall, watching wide-eyed as Solan leaned in, then shut his eyes and arched up when Solan kissed him. It was a little too hard, a little too rough, but when Solan let go of his wrists, Kyr wrapped his arms around Solan’s neck and pressed against him, rocking his hips forward. Solan caught him by the waist and slid both hands under his shirt, pushing the material up and pulling back just long enough to yank the shirt over Kyr’s head.

He shivered at the warmth of Solan’s mouth on his neck when he leaned back in, kissing and nipping almost hard enough to leave bruises. Solan moved down slowly, trailing his tongue along the line of Kyr’s collarbone as though tasting the skin there; sliding down on a line of a kisses until he was on his knees, gripping Kyr’s hip with one hand while the other worked open the button and fly on Kyr’s jeans. Kyr braced himself against the wall, breathing heavily, and fought off a whimper when Solan nuzzled at his stomach like a cat.

A door slammed outside and they both froze, Solan with his fingers hooked in the top of Kyr’s open jeans and the boxers underneath, Kyr struggling just to remember how to breathe. Footsteps echoed down the hallway and Solan scrambled to his feet, a heavy blush spreading across his cheeks, panic evident on his face. Kyr didn’t stop to think, just grabbed him with one hand and his shirt with the other, and shoved him into the coat closet in one corner, pulling the doors shut bare seconds before the office door opened and someone stepped inside.

The closet was small even without coats inside it to take up room, and the feel of Solan pressing against him was distracting enough that Kyr could barely concentrate on listening to what was happening in the office. Terror might have panicked Solan into losing interest—temporarily, Kyr hoped—but it wasn’t damping Kyr’s interest any. He ran his hands absently down Solan’s sides, tugging at the waistband of Solan’s jeans, and was reward by a sharp intake of breath.

“Stop it,” Solan growled in his ear.

Kyr just shook his head, grinning, and slipped open the button on Solan’s jeans. Outside he heard papers rustling and a distracted ‘hmm’ noise, then the sound of drawers being opened and closed. Under his hands Solan squirmed, then grabbed his wrists again and pinned them up over his head, holding him still until the lamp in the office clicked off and the footsteps retreated back out the door.

“Fuck me,” Kyr managed, letting his breath out in what was very nearly a giggle. “I think I almost shit my pants.”

“Take it out and prove it,” Solan muttered, pulling away and cautiously opening the closet doors.

“I will.” Kyr pushed him out and reluctantly pulled his shirt back on. He started to follow Solan out, reaching to take his hand, then remembered the test and turned back.

“Don’t,” Solan said softly.

He hesitated, fingers resting on the file cabinet’s handle, and said without turning around, “If I fail, I’m fucked.”

“You won’t. I’ll even skip class tomorrow to help you cram. And look at it this way.” Kyr heard the smile in his voice even though he hadn’t turned around. “Cheat and you’re not fucked.”

Kyr snorted a laugh. “When you put it that way, Solo...” He tightened his fingers on the handle then dropped his hand and turned away, smiling a bit when Solan took his hand. “Let’s go before I fuckin’ explode.”

They made it out of the math building and back into the dorms without being caught, despite a close call with one of the security guards roaming the grounds. Kyr pulled Solan into his room and made sure the door was locked before pushing Solan down on his bed and straddling his hips. For just a moment, in the moonlight coming in through the window, Solan’s eyes looked impossibly green, then he pulled Kyr into a kiss that wiped all thought of anything else out of Kyr’s mind.